BOYS IN LEATHER JACKETS

Why Dick's Variety was off -Limits

I guess I have dropped enough hints that the boys who  invaded the  Barrel Yard at Night were the same boys sitting around smoking at Dick's Variety Store.

They were boys  who had duck tail haircuts all glossy and  combed back.  They often  pulled  alluring curls down over their foreheads like  Superman's curl.  They wore jeans and white t-shirts.  But best of all they carried their cigarette packs rolled up in the left arm of their shirt.  There was something so cool about that fact. 

They were dangerous and no nice girl would ever speak to them. 
And they gathered at Dick's.  My mother  never sent me to Dick's for groceries. So what excuse did I have for dropping by DICK's--but only if I was alone??\

Dick kept a  large cooler full of ice and soda bottles-no cans-- just by the door. That was the draw on a hot summer day. I would go in and grab a soda and pay my dime and then drink it outside.  I never said a word. There was a rough wooden shelf along one side of the store and  some of the customers would sit there inside with their cold drinks.  They often had chugging contests. I would stand and watch--then after awhile if there was an empty spot, I would sit down.

I watched and tried to see  how they did it. In one continuous  draining gulp.
I started to practice  with cold water and an empty soda bottle at home.  I choked at first but then as I learned to relax my throat I could let an entire  bottle of water glide down. I began saving  my dimes.
So I never spoke there unless someone spoke to me. VERY RARE.

One day-- a hot July day I squeezed in with about 6 boys and  as  each of them popped the top of the bottle they would say "I'm in."  That day I  chimed in "I'm in too,"  I did  not expect to win--that is finish first--but I did know that I could finish
What I hadn't expected was the fizz of the orange soda up my nose. 
I didn't choke, but I had to go slow--I finished last--but I finished.

After that the boys spoke to me, they asked me my name and if they were chugging, so was I. 
That was a beginning and in a sense that was the end. Nothing else happened. I was only 9 years old; they were teenagers.
Then one day something scary happened--not to me--No, but right in front of me